[Source:  Starfish Therapies]

We have recently had several kids who are struggling with jumping.  Sure, they clear their feet when they jump, but they are relying on using their hips to lift their feet, rather than push off through the toes.  And learning how to land so that they are primed to either jump again, or absorb the shock, has also proven challenging.

So we decided to brainstorm one day and one of the suggested ideas was to have the child lie on their back on a platform swing, move them forward so their feet are touching a wall, and have them push off.  As they swing back they will practice absorbing the shock and then pushing again.  By having them lie down, their body is in a similar position to if they were jumping in standing. We found the kids loved it.  We had to show them a couple of times what to do, and occasionally slow the return down while they were still getting the hang of it, but once they figured it out, they were self propelling themselves on a swing.  I don’t know about you, but a majority of our kids love to swing.

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